The Lost Lioness
by prettynit45
Summary: Draco stumbles upon a wandering lioness.


It was the first Hogsmead weekend of December, and as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but white. Buildings, patrons and animals covered in the fallen ice. However, Ginny Weasley stood solitarily behind the old wooden fence that separated her from the snow-covered Shrieking Shack in the distance. Bundled in her red fur lined coat, she placidly caught falling snowflakes while she basked in the silence around her.

It had been a longer two weeks than normal filled with longer rants about the importance of achieving only O's in all her exams and most definitely the importance of learning all you could speech from Hermione. As well as, avoiding Harry as much as she could. He had asked her to accompany him to hogs mead that weekend, but she had turned him down as gently as possible. As it turns out, the-boy-who-lived is nothing if not persistent. He began to continuously seek her out, try to engage her over-discussed chatter of quidditch, he'd even tried to escort her to and from meals and her classes; all without taking heed of her constant rejections. So she began avoiding him.

Hearing crunching snow, Ginny turned toward the approaching sound to Draco Malfoy slowly walking in her direction as though lost in his thoughts. Seeming to sense her presence, he awoke from his reverie. A seemingly automatic sneer settled on his lips, somehow not taking away from his handsomeness.

"Ginerva," he spoke softly, almost hesitantly, "Lost your golden trio, have you?"

Quite frankly she was shocked he knew her name. "Hardly Draco, just enjoying the quiet." She calmly replied. "What about your ever present... admirers?"

Supringly there was no urge to shout or yell obscenities and curse one another as the previous times they have crossed paths. Then again, all those times seem to feature both Ron and Harry whom both let their anger lead their actions.

He chuckled wryly and slowly approached her. "I, um, ditched them about 15 minutes ago when Vince and Greg got too eager at Honeydukes. Nearly trampled me in fact." She hid a small smile.

"So, what are you doing straying from the Chosen One's protection? Surely Potter would want to keep his girl close to him at all times?" He spoke as he slowly approached her. Ginny had a look pf disbelief and slight annoyance.

"Do people honestly still believe I have feelings for Harry?" She questioned, "Merlin, you have one tiny crush and suddenly you can't ever live it down." Sighing exasperatedly, she sat on the trunk of a nearby fallen tree.

Laughing silently Draco sat next to her. "Truly? I have no idea, though the Slytherins can't seem to give it a rest."

They sat in compionable silence for some time, simply observing their surroundings before he spoke once more. "So, not that it's any of my business, but how come you're hanging alone?

She turned to look at him for a few heartbeats before she responded. "How do I know you aren't just here to mock me?"

"You don't," He responded in turn with a smirk, "but I'm not. I would give you my word if you would believe me."

"Hmm" she said noncommittally. "Hermione's know-it-all persona has been coming on extra heavy lately and it was bloody annoying. I mean I love her, she's like a sister to me, but come on! We were raised in the wizarding world, not her. I don't need to study things that were drilled into me before I was 5 years old. You know?"

Her eyes had flashed a bright golden brown as she spoke and the red in her hair had begun to shimmer. It was entrancing. Draco had to remind himself to answer her.

"Yes, I do in fact." He then said teasingly, "Which is what I've been saying since first year." He had a dumb grin on his face as he leaned in a bit closer, nudging her. Ginny had to restrain her chuckles.

"Nevermind my problems, what's Mr. Slytherin Prince doing all by himself? Where are all your fangirls and admirers, hmm?" she asked teasingly.

Draco had to laugh quietly at that, and roll his eyes. That's when he noticed they were both shivering. He took out his wand and silently cast a warming charm on them. She sent him a grateful look. "My 'admirers' as you call them are busy snogging in alleys or stuffing their faces with candy and Merlin knows what else." They both laughed at that.

The sky was increasingly darkening and Ginny cast the tempus charm. She suggested they begin walking back to the castle to be able to make it back to dinner on time. The two began chatting quietly along the way, making jokes and playfully mocking the other. "You know," she began, "you're much more friendly than you've ever been with me. What's gotten into you? Are you feeling alright?" she pestered as she brought her hand to press to his forehead. He quickly brought her hand away from his face with a yelp. "Merlin, your hand is freezing." He took both her hands in his and began to rub them, warming them up. "Au contraire, I'm just simply not in the ever annoying presence of boy wonder and his sidekick."

Ginny scoffed, "Why is my brother the sidekick." He didn't answer verbally, but with a look that spoke volumes. "Okay, so yes he's the sidekick. It doesn't matter." At his slightly adorable confused look, she explained. "They're all equally annoying."

At this Draco could slightly argue that there were different levels to their brash arrogance that contributed to this but let the issue drop. As they neared the castle, they both suddenly seemed to realize that they hadn't let go of one another, and had in fact curled their fingers and was slightly rhythmically swinging them. For a pause nothing was said, though neither pulled away but continued to walk unbothered.

As the approached the entrance hall, they began to subconsciously slow their pace and took their time. Not knowing whether or not he was going to ignore her now that they were back at school, she looked at him. Golden brown met searing grey and neither could look away. She dared to speak first.

"So…does this mean we're still friends, or do we go back to despising each other?"

"I would like it if we remained friends," he responded, "but, be patient with me whenever the wonder twins and the know-it-all are around, yeah? It may take more than one day for me to learn to tolerate them, if ever."

She chuckled softly before they entered the castle together.

Fin*


End file.
